Sayang at hindi ako nagkaroon ng pagkakataong mapanood o mapakinggan ang mga hearing ng Senado at Feliciano Commission. Sa pagkakaalam ko, medyo tinitira ng iba ang hindi perpektong English ng mga rebeldeng sundalo. Sang-ayon ako sa sinabi ni Randy David sa kanyang column ngayong araw:

“Under pressure and bursting with emotion, the officers have not been the paragon of articulateness in a language that few in our country have mastered in its oral form. Their detractors have also seized upon this to impugn their intelligence, forgetting that our schizophrenic approach to language has bred entire generations of Filipinos who have no firm command of either English or Filipino. Yet, truth is now being tested as communicative competence.

“I find it symptomatic of our deep cultural estrangement that the Feliciano Commission should demand that the young officers speak only in English. This is our country, and our principal audience is not the foreign community. Yet, we are asking fellow Filipinos to express their deepest sentiments in a language that is not their own. What kind of people are we?”

What kind of people are we? Isang lahing nakalimot sa sariling ugat at nalango sa puting pangarap. Para tayong mga asong ngumingayaw upang makatawid sa kabilang bakuran at lalong malimutan ang sarili. Basta magaling mag-English, henyo’t nagsasabi ng totoo!

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